The healer wife
by 4gardiean
Summary: An Easterling healer receives patients after the battle of the Pelennor field and learns how the battle went.
1. Chapter 1

A young woman walks around the camp she is in. She sees how the women are all hustling around the camp. They are clearly anxious and agitated. Something which is not really that surprising since everyone is awaiting news from the battle their men are fighting against the Tarks. The fight will determine their future for if they succeed then they will have more land. If the men fail then they will most likely be taken prisoner and turned into slaves. A fate no one in the camp wants to have to happen to them.

During her walk, she walks with determination for she has a destination in mind. The destination is her personal tent. There she will be able to find some quiet time where she can think about everything that has happened. Specifically how she came to be here. Till now she has been too busy to consider everything that has happened in the last year.

Soon she sees her tent appearing in the distance and feels relieved. Relieved at the thought that she will be away from the hustle that goes around her. It takes her but a short while to reach her tent. But just before she is about to enter her tent she sees how one of the women walks up to her. Considering the look on the woman's face she knows that she will not find her quiet for some time now.

"Naran, what should we do with the provisions? Do we prepare them now or later?"

"I do not know how long the battle will last. As such I would think it best were you to prepare our provisions once it has been determined that the battle has been ended. That way the men will receive freshly prepared food. I am sure that they will appreciate it greatly."

"Of course, my lady."

She sees how the woman does not leave once she has her answer. She has no idea as to why the woman would stay. There is no need for her to linger anymore. As such she gives the woman a questioning look. Hopefully, the woman will now know that she should either leave or explain why she lingers. It does not take the woman long to speak up.

"Can I aid you with something?"

"No, there is nothing I need aid with right now. All I want is some peace and quiet. If there is news about the outcome of the battle then I want to be informed. For all else, I would like to not be disturbed"

"Of course, my lady."

Naran sees how the woman then leaves her and walks back to the middle of the camp. Nearly everyone is there, that she knows. They are there either discussing the possible outcome of the battle, talking about their lives or gossiping. Those who are not there want peace just like she does and will spend their time in their tent. Now that she is alone once more, she enters her tent.

When she walks into her tent, she sees that everything is placed where it should be. She is pleased by this since she expected that she would have to do this. To the back of the round tent, she can see chests standing. On either side of the tent, she can see a bench side covered with rugs. In the middle of the tent, she sees a fireplace with a metal stand. On the stand, she sees an iron pod.

Naran wonders why the pod is already on the stand. Is there water boiling in the pod? Well, there is only one way to find out and that is by looking into the pod. As she does that she sees that there is water in the pod. The water steams in her face. This means that the water is hot enough to make some tea. Tea which she had already intended to make.

A few minutes later, Naran finishes her tea and sits down on one of the benched with the cup of tea in her hand. Now she can finally think about everything that has happened. Specifically how she came to be here.

It all began around a year ago when the men of the far east, she came with to this place, assaulted the village she lived in with her clan. She was the daughter of the clan leader before the assault. As such her future husband would become the clan leader. Now she will have to see who will become the clan leader after her father. Either someone the Kahn appointed or the Kahn's son, the man she married.

Besides being the daughter of the clan leader, she was also one of their main healers. A healer who had actually received training. Of which there were not many. This since most who call themselves healers gain their knowledge from their mother. It is also the reason why the trained healers have always been more respected among their clan.

The men of the far east are part of a clan called Bodon as she learned later. They assaulted her village just moments after she returned from gathering herbs outside of her village. They assaulted her village by besieging it. It was a frightful time for everyone in the village. During the siege, her father was offered an opportunity to surrender by the leader of the assault. This she knows since her father had just called her to him when the offer was made.

Her father answered the assault leader after some consideration. His answer was that he would take them up on their offer. As he explained to her later, he did not want to see their village destroyed. Not their people murdered or the other villages without leadership.

They know of these risks from the tales from survivors. Those few survivors from other clans who joined them. They reported that when their clan leader refused the offer, their village was completely destroyed and nearly everyone was killed. They barely managed to get out alive.

With the acceptance of their surrender, her clan was subjected to the rule of the Bodon clan. It was the beginning of a stressful time for everyone. No one knew what the subjecting would mean for them.

It became even more stressful for her when the assault leader, who she later learned is the eldest son of the Bodon clan leader, requested to marry her. A request which her father granted. And a decision she was furious about. This anger she only showed her father in the privacy of their own home. That was when she learned her father's reasons for his acceptance. An acceptance which stemmed mostly for fear of angering their new lord. He did not know how the lord would react should he deny his son's request. That is why he felt compelled to accept the request.

Naran understood these reasons well and as such, she accepted her new fate. With her acceptance, the marriage was sealed a few days later. Silently she hoped and still does, that she can ensure that all people who are subjected will be treated well. A subject she has not yet dared to approach. She wants to know her husband better than she does now before she will express her worries.

After the marriage was sealed, it did not take her long to discover that she is his first wife. Considering her husband's age, it does not surprise her. He appeared to her as a young man only about five years above the age of majority at most. It told her at the same time that he must be a really good commander to already have command over warriors.

She only had a few days to become used to the thought of being married for her husband and his troops left her village then. They left together with nearly all the men. The men who did not accompany her husband were either too young to fight or too old.

When she learned of his plan to leave, she hoped to be allowed to stay behind. A hope which did not last long for her husband told her to pack everything she might need the day before he left. She was especially pressed to bring her healing equipment and herbs with her.

At the time she was confused as to why he tied her to pack her healing supplies. She looked at him with a frown. But when he did not respond, she decided to be brave and ask her husband for his reasons.

Then she learned that she would be one of the few healers trained in herb lore who would be accompanying the troops. All the other healers are shamans. That is why she was told that she would hold a special position within the camp.

Suddenly, she hears shouts coming from the camp. It makes her instantly wonder what is going on. Did they win the battle? Or have their enemies come to make them slaves? She is out of her tent before she is even aware of it.

Once outside the tent, she can hear the sound of hoofbeats moving at a quick pace towards the camp. This sound gives her some hope that they have won.

* * *

A while later, the horses, everyone had heard earlier, are riding into their camp. She can see that the men who rode the horses are all strangers. Strangers for they wear armor that is unfamiliar to her. She has never seen this kind of armor. There are no emblems which she can use to determine where the came from. In fact, the armor looks entirely gray.

The only thing that has color is their cloaks. Those are in a green color. She is unable to determine if there are any stitchings on it. Those might give her some inside on where these men's loyalty lies.

Another thing she does not recognize are the helmets. They are not of a making she is familiar with. She does recognize the shape of a horse on some. It makes her wonder if these riders are part of a cavalry. But as she does not know much about the people who live in these lands, she cannot say where they are from and to whom they are loyal.

Looking more closely at the strange riders, she sees how some have reigns of other horses attached to their saddles. Following the reigns, she sees how they lead to other horses. These horses carry some of their own men. All these men carry a variety of scratches on their bodies. None of their wounds appear dangerous to her.

She is certain about one thing. These men are lightly injured. Their seriously injured will either be later or never returned to them. It makes her wonder where these men are being held right now and if they receive the care they need. She is certain that there must be men who more badly injured than those who came back. It is the experience she has with battles.

Naran shakes her head. Their injured men are not as important as the strangers. She does not know them. To be able to tell what will become of them, she needs to learn as much as she can about them. Hence why the strangers are more important than their injured men.

At the same time, she realizes one thing. They have lost the battle. It makes her wonder what will happen to them now. Will they become slaves or will they be killed? She hopes that the last option will not happen for she does not want to die. The first option she does not like but she can live with it. She will at least have her life then if not her freedom.

Looking around her, she sees the other women standing at a distance around the strangers. All women all express various degrees of worry on their faces. It is clear that they are also worried about their future. And most likely also about the fate of their men. As no one is taking charge of the situation, Naran knows that the responsibility will fall on her shoulders.

Walking up the strange men, Naran intends to find out two things. Those matters are the most important right now. One of those matters is who the riders are. The other is what will happen to them right now. But just as she reaches them, she is grabbed her from behind.


	2. Chapter 2

The arms that grabbed her create a tight hold on her body. When she feels this, Naran instantly starts to struggle. She does not like the arms that hold her. She wants to be free of them. As such, she tries to hit the one holding her anywhere. That will make the person holding her let loose.

As she struggles, Naran hears a strange voice talking to her. This must be from the person who is holding her. Based on the voice, she is certain that a man is holding her. Most likely one of the strange riders. Hearing the voice does not make her relent in her struggling. It increases it. She wants to be free from this hold.

At the same time, she hears her men call out. They call for her to be released. She does not look at them but can hear some struggling occurring. Not knowing how the strangers will react to her men struggling, she starts to swing repeatedly with her elbow. She hopes to hit the one holding her to protect her men.

Suddenly she hears a groan behind her. Smiling happily, she knows that she has managed to hit the one holding her. Most likely in his side, as that is the only place she would be able to reach with the way she was being held. Not wanting to lose her momentarily advantage, Naran turns around and hits the man behind her right in his face. She sees how the man falls after being struck.

As the man falls, she hears laughter around her. It annoys her for she does not know what is funny. Nothing funny has happened just now. Scowling, she turns around intending to walk away. It is then that she becomes aware of a group of strange men surrounding her. She sees that they look at her and the one she struck. Not knowing what these men want to do, she prepares herself for another round of struggling. Even though she knows that she has little chance of winning from all these men. She is simply determined to not go down without a fight.

Her concentration is broken when she hears a voice saying something. She cannot understand what was being said for the man, at least the voice sounds like that of a man, spoke in an unknown language. Because the group leaves her alone soon after, she suspects that they were told to leave her be. She is grateful for this.

Now that she is being left alone, she has time to study the man she struck. The man has a light skin tone. His hair is gold-colored and his eyes are blue. She can see that his nose is bleeding from where she struck him. Knowing from the experience of treating such injuries, it must be a painful one. Not that she will help him. That is for their healers to do. While she looks at him, another stranger is helping him up. Based on the tone of his voice, he is joking with the other. Not that the other likes it based on his facial expression.

Shaking her head, she turns around and walks towards her men. She is a healer and needs to look after her patients. As she looks over the group at her patients, she sees many familiar faces. One of the faces belongs to her husband. It eases her mind that he is alright except for some cuts and bruises.

Despite her relief, she does not allow her attention to stray from her patients again. She looks the men over to determine what their injuries are. Only by knowing will she be able to determine who she needs to treat first. As she notices before, none of the men appear to be seriously injured.

While she does that, Naran contemplates who she should ask for what happened. As in why and how they lost the battle. She needs to find someone who knows exactly what happened and who also knows the reasons. The reasons for their loss that is. It is what she wants to know at the very least.

Naran quickly determines that her husband is the best one to ask the questions she has. He will know more details than the men will. This decision made, she walks to her husband.

As she nears him, she can hear him talking to some men. She hears him tell them to be careful and not antagonize their captors. Orders which she fully understands. They do not know their captors and as such need to behave carefully. Who knows what might set them off. Tapping her husband on his shoulder, she addresses him.

"Torgan? What has happened?"

"Not now, Naran. I will answer your questions later but not right now. I need you to look after the wounded who came back with me first."

Naran is not happy that her husband, Torgan, does not explain anything to her right now. She wants to know what happened as soon as possible. But she knows that she will keep him to his promise. Of that she is certain. What she can understand is his desire for her to look after your wounded. For that, she wants to reassure him.

"I will do that. Do not worry about it, Torgan. They are in good hands with me."

"I know. Else I would not have suggested it. I will inform our captors that you will be treating our wounded. Hopefully, that will keep them away from you."

She nods and waits for Torgan to continue. She can tell from his thoughtful look that he has something else to tell her.

"Naran? I would prefer it if you were to stay away from our captors. As much as you can, that is. I do not like the attention they give you."

She fully agrees with this. Especially considering the way she was grabbed earlier. They clearly show interest in her for more than that of a prisoner or slave.

Nodding, Naran walks away from Torgan and to her patients. She does not give Torgan any chance to further speak to her. Once she reaches her patients, she directs them to a central place. From that place, she can keep an eye on everything. At the same time, it will also allow their captors to see what she is doing.

While directing her patients, she again worries that there are only so so few. And that there are only men with light injuries here. Knowing how battles will go, she is again reminded that there must be more severely injured men. Where they are she still does not know. Most likely they are in the care of their captors. How well that care will be, she does not know.

Shaking her head, she tells herself that she should not spend her time worrying about the severely injured. There is nothing she can do for them. Instead, she should worry about her current patients. As well as their future.

Placing what she needs around herself, she begins to treat their injuries. While treating them she talks with them about their plans for the future. At the same time, she also tries what she can to learn about the battle. The information she gains is incredibly enlightening.

Most men, she learns, want to return to their own families. They are as doubtful about the prospect as she also is. All know that now that they are prisoners, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. If they can return then it will only be if their captors show them any kindness. They need to allow them to return for them to be able to return to their families.

During their talks, she also learns that their severely injured are in the care of their captors. Just as she expected. She only shortly worries for them and hopes that they will be treated well. Then she turns her attention back to treating her patients. She ensures that everyone is well-taken care off before she is willing to leave them.

When Naran walks to her yurt, she thinks about the reason for doing so. It is not for some peaceful time that she goes back to her yurt. She intends to talk to her husband. He promised her that he would answer her questions later after she has treated the wounded men. She has done so and now wants to get the answers she seeks. The men gave her some but she knows that Torgan will know more details. She intends to get as many details as Torgan is willing to give her. That way she will have a full picture of what has happened.

During all this, she also hopes that Torgan will be in the yurt. She has not seen him since she started to treat her patients. As such she does not know where he will be right now and hopes that she will find him in their yurt.


	3. Chapter 3

Walking into the yurt, Naran is shocked by what she sees. Boxes have been opened and things have been taken out of it. Some things, she can see have been taken away. What has not been taken, lies around discarded.

From quick glancing around the yurt, she gets the impression that it is the valuable things that have been taken. That which is not valuable has been left behind carelessly on the ground. All in all, she gets the impression that their captors have been plundering. Not surprising based on her previous experiences.

While looking around, Naran sees that Torgan is in their yurt. Just as she has hoped. Torgan is putting things back where they belong. From where he has cleared the floor, she can see wood splinters lying on the floor. Clearly not only the valuable things have been taken but also some things have been broken or damaged. Their captors were not careful during their plundering.

Sighing, she knows that they will not be able to talk for some time. First, their yurt has to be put back in order. For as much as it is possible to do so.

With this knowledge in mind, she moves to her right and begins there with putting everything in order. By doing this she will be helping Torgan and they can talk faster. For the next two hours, Naran and Torgan spend on cleaning up their yurt as much as they can. They do this in silence for neither talks to the other.

During the silence, Naran wonders from time to time if Torgan has heard her. Or if he is to focus on cleaning up. Still, she does not speak to him based on what she sees when she glances at him. She sees then his sorrowful looks. It makes her wonder what he feels sorrow about. Is it about the lost fight? Or is it about something else? She will only know if she asks him and if he answers her. Considering their short marriage, she does not have much confidence that he will tell her such things. More confidence, she has in that he will tell her what has happened.

"Naran, are you alright?"

Torgan's voice and his hand grasping her arm suddenly has her jumping up and squeaking. Her heart beats fast and feels as if it has moved into her throat. She did not hear him walking up to her. Nor did she notice him reaching to her. Only once her fast-beating heart has calmed down enough does she speak up.

"Torgan, I did not hear you."

"That much I could tell. What occupies your mind so much that you did not hear me?"

"Nothing of real importance. I was simply worried about our severely injured men. And wondering if you heard me entering."

Well, both are true even if she worried about those men earlier. And not just now. Still, she cannot expect him to be truthful with her if she is not herself truthful with him.

Noticing his amused smile, she pulls herself from her thoughts. She suspects that he wants to tell her something. As such she deems it important that she pays attention to what he is saying.

"I did not hear you enter just as you suspected. I was thus pleasantly surprised when I saw you helping me clean up. As for the severely wounded, we both know that we can do nothing for them. Nothing except hoping that they will survive. The wounded I could bring back with me have all been treated, am I right?"

"Yes, I have treated them all. You know that I did not come to tell you that. You promised me that you would tell me what has happened. I would like for you to fulfill your promise."

"I will do so. But shall we sit down before I tell you everything? In this case, it is plenty of what I need to tell you. We will be more comfortable if we sit down."

Torgan speaks calmly to her which calms her down. She was nervous to hear his answer. She worried that he would not want to fulfill his promise right now. Currently, she feels relieved. Relieved that she gets what she wants and was promised. As well as that she does not have to begin pressing Torgan to get answers.

Nodding towards Torgan, Naran walks to the central heating. There she prepares some tea for both of them. She did discover during the cleaning that the stash of tea and some cups were left behind. This is what she used to prepare the tea with.

Naran feels confident that they will be more comfortable if they have something to drink. Just as Torgan said. By having something to drink, they have something to distract themselves with during potentially difficult moments.

Once she has the tea prepared she stores it in one of the containers that have been left behind. A container meant for storing tea and other drinks in, that is. Else she would not have used it to store the tea.

She takes the container together with the cups to where Torgan has sat down. She serves them both the first cup before sitting down herself. It is then that Torgan begins with explaining what has happened. Before she can ask him to, that is.

"We entered the battle with hope for a victory. I was confident that we could overcome the Tarks forces as well as its allies. Even though the scouts did not have as much time to scout these lands. Nor ample time to learn everything they could about it. Still, with the other forces that worked for the Shadow, I was confident that we had enough men."

Naran is happy that Torgan was so confident in the beginning. But she is also aware that something must have happened else their captors would not be their captors right now. These thoughts are the reason for her next response.

"Obviously your confidence was misplaced. Else those strange men would not have been our captors right now."

"That is true. It went good for us in the beginning. But everything changed with the arrival of the black ships. From what I was told by one of the Shadow's agents, those black ships would carry allies. Only, when they arrived, they did not carry allies."

Torgan falls silent allowing Naran a chance to consider his last words. They make her frown for she does not know who else could have been on those ships. But then the fact that the fighting turned against them with their arrival, it must have been enemies. Or at the very least allies of the Tarks. If she is right, Naran knows she will only learn by asking Torgan. Having decided this, she asks the question that is on her mind. She does not allow Torgan to continue with his explanation.

"Who did they then carry if not our allies. Men of these lands or allies?"

"There were, indeed, men of Gondor on board. With those men came others. I suspect they were allies. One of those men raised a standard I have never seen before. The locals reacted quite strangely to it."

"Strange how? And what was your impression of the standard?"

Both matters are on her mind. The first because she does not know what he would call a strange reaction. What would even be considered a strange reaction? That is the most important part she does not understand. As for the second, maybe by knowing what it looked like she will know who it belongs to. Or why it would create a strange reaction. Looking at Torgan, she sees that he is thinking about something. On seeing her look, he smiles.

"Well, strange as in that they seemed relieved. As for my impression of the standard, I am certain that some unknown lord showed up. But which lord I cannot tell for I have never heard of that standard. Nor have I found mentions of it in tales or writings. That we did not know about the lord is most likely due to our lack of scouting time."

Naran frowns. What kind of standard would relieve people? She only knows one reason. That is that someone who was not expected showed up. It could explain why no one knew about his presence. But she still does not know enough about the standard. All she knows not is that Torgan does not know it. And that she knew earlier. It means that she will have to ask Torgan to describe it to her.

"What did the standard look like?"

"The standard had a black background. On it, a tree was depicted which was colored white. Over the tree, several stars could be seen. I do not know how many but based on the shape am certain that it was stars. There was also a crown on it. All this makes it certain that the Lord who raised the standard is important but does not say who it belongs to. Not that I know the standards of many local lords."

"Could it belong to a king?"

If there is a crown on it, then she would assume that the standard belongs to a king. It is also possible that it might belong to a member of the royal family. It is the reason she asked her question. She wants to know what Torgan thinks about it.

"It is possible, Naran. But it also could belong to some royal. Which royal, I do not know. As I said before, I do not know the local lords. The only royals in this land that I know off were already present on the battlefield when the standard was raised. Or they were still at home based on what my scouts told me."

"I do not think that our shared knowledge of this land will be able to determine who the standard belongs to. So I suggest that we leave the matter to what it is. Maybe in time, we will be able to have our questions answered."

"I agree with you on that, Naran. We should leave it to what it is."

"What did you do when you determined that you were about to lose the battle?"

Naran wants to know this and now that the matter of the standard is closed, she had the opportunity to ask it. She is interested in what Torgan will tell her even though she is convinced that he surrendered. If not, then they would not be treated the way they are being treated.

Still, it is possible that they were captured. She does not know the people from these lands so her assessment on surrender she based on what she knows from her lands. How it is done here she does not know. Which is why both options are possible.

Looking at Torgan, she sees that he is lost in thoughts. Just as she was before. Clearing her throat, Torgan looks up surprised. He smiles apologetically at her.

"I apologize, Naran. I was lost in thoughts."

She knows that already. It is not the answer she sought when cleared her throat. She sought an answer to the question she has asked. As such she looks questionable at Torgan. Seeking to press him to answer. When he sees the look, he answers the question she had asked him.

"When I determined that we would lose, I decided that the best thing we could do was surrender. We were too surrounded to be able to escape. Continuing to fight was futile for ..."

"Why did you do that?!"

It is the first thing that comes to her mind when she hears that he decided. Because of her shock, she interrupted Torgan. She forgets momentarily that she considered surrendering the most likely option. Torgan, in turn, continues as if nothing has happened. As if he was not interrupted.

"I decided because I did not want to have all my men slaughtered, Naran. If I had not done so, we would have been slaughtered."

"Why do you say that?"

She is confused as to why Torgan would say this. Did the locals not intend to capture them once they had the overhand? And more importantly, where did Torgan get the impression that they would be slaughtered. Killed would have been a possibility. But to call it slaughtering, that she does not understand. As such she frowns.

"I say that for I could see the defenders decimating the armies of the Shadow. They were not sparing anyone who fought back. Hence why I made the decision. I was well aware of what would most likely become of everyone. I am certain that we can survive our captivity."

"Well, captivity? Torgan, you know that we will most likely become slaves. And if we do not do what our captors want them we will be killed. If the men will not be killed later regardless of how hard they have worked."

"I know that it is a possibility. At the same time, we do not know our captors. Just as we already determined earlier. Keep the hope up for our people, Naran. They deserve to be able to hope. Even if we do not feel much hope ourselves."

"Alright, I will not show my doubts to our people. But it does not mean that they will disappear. There is one more thing I hope you can tell me: why you were so quick to surrender?"

Naran would like to know that. How quick Torgan was with surrendering does not add up to the loyalty she saw him giving to the Shadow. He always seemed so loyal. So why would he consider betraying the Shadow? With the betrayal, she means the surrender. It does not add up. And she does not understand Torgan's actions at all.

"I was so quick to surrender, Naran, for I was never fully loyal to the Shadow. He only had my allegiance because of the threats he made. Threats to my family and people. The same counts for all the survivors."

"There were those who are fully loyal to the Shadow?"

There must have been. Else Torgan would not have called the survivors as being loyal to the Shadow due to threats.

Look it at Torgan with a frown, she hopes to inform him that she is confused. She sees Torgan smiling amused at her.

"Yes, there were those who wet fully loyal to the Shadow. None of them survived for I had them go in with the first wave. They were more excited to fight than other men. At the time I thought it best to let them have what they wanted. It would spare the remainder of my men at least some. In the end, I was glad for it. They all died before I made the call to surrender."

"That will certainly make our captivity a lot easier. They will not be here to create trouble. Still, I hope that your confidence in our survival is grounded."

"I hope so too, Naran."


End file.
